The Australian Vaccination Network declares that doctors are “terrorists”

Two days ago Australian Doctor published an article in regard to new(ish) intimidatory tactics being employed by the anti-vaccination movement:

Anti-vax parents are intensifying their efforts to have conscientious objector forms approved by circulating a document on how to “bully” doctors for their signatures.

Circulating by email and obtained by Australian Doctor, the two-page sheet of “tips” suggests parents warn doctors they will report them to regulators if they show “disrespect” for their anti-vax views.

The document also urges parents to refuse to pay for the consultation if a doctor does not sign.

The email (which we had already seen) had been sent out by childhood infectious disease advocate, Stephanie Messenger. Yes, her. Here is Messenger’s introduction to the document:

Hi Everyone,

I heard on the Today show this morning that the Government is changing the name of the Conscientious Objectors FormTo the’ Vaccine Refusers Form’

What a joke!

I hereby rename the form the ‘Refuse to Poison our Kids Form’ or more aptly “The Vaccine Refuters Form”

I would encourage everyone to use these names for the form whenever you hear it mentioned.

The Govt is trying any tactic it can to protect the sacred cow it has bought into and does not want to admit it, like most parents,That they have been duped over the decades with the scam called vaccination.

Please pass this on to others

Stephanie Messenger

The complete document, as cited by Australian Doctor, can be read and downloaded here. I urge folks to save the PDF and ask their local medical centre if they would like a copy. It would be prudent for all GPs, practice managers, practice nurses, and reception staff to be aware in advance of the intimidation coming their way. I have already done this, and it was a welcomed move.

Not one for subtlety, Meryl Dorey of the anti-vaccination pressure group, the Australian Vaccination Network, saw the article and thought it would be a good idea to promote the document, which she described as “excellent”:

And, because comprehension is hard, and entails a degree of honesty, Dorey also had to completely pervert the text of the Australian Doctor article to fit into her rage-fueled, deliberate misinterpretation of what was actually said in the article:

Thank you Glenn Pascoe. I must check to see if you were banned for this disrespectful comment.

Here are the exact passages to which Dorey refers:

MDA National medicolegal manager Dr Sara Bird (pictured) said GPs were under no legal obligation to sign the forms if they felt unable to properly explain to a particular parent the benefits and risks associated with immunisation, and the dangers of not immunising children.

Nowhere does it say that doctors aren’t capable of explaining the risks and benefits of vaccination. It refers to a “particular parent”. That is, an arrogant, ignorant parent who will not listen to solid evidence. The type of parent who will use the “how-to-be-an-asshole” document, thinking that they’ve finally beaten the bastards. Where did Dorey get the “Over 50% of Australian doctors are unable to explain…” sentence? I’ll leave that up to you to ascertain the particular bodily orifice from where it was wrenched.

Today Australian Doctor published a follow-up article, which included the latter Dorey promotion of the “how-to-be-an-asshole” document:

A tip sheet that shows anti-vax parents how to “bully” doctors into signing conscientious objector forms is now being mass circulated by the AVN.

The tip sheet, which was obtained by Australian Doctor last week, instructs parents to warn doctors they will report them to regulators if they show “disrespect” for their anti-vax views, and states that doctors “sit on a toilet just like you and I [sic] and are no better than you or I [sic]”.

The document also urges parents to refuse to pay for the consultation if a doctor does not sign.

On Wednesday, AVN founder Meryl Dorey posted the contents of the letter on the AVN’s Facebook page, which has connections with more than 6000 users.

She wrote: “I happen to think this is an excellent ‘how to’ for parents who often do face abusive, harassing doctors who think that it is their right to tell parents what to do.”

Interestingly, as the article was published online, a courageous, anonymous AVN Facebook page admin also posted a fallacy-ridden, raving attack against medical professionals. Proving that the AVN and other anti-vaccinationists should be taken seriously by all politicians, journalists, and medical professionals, the AVN referred to doctors thusly:

Doctors want to be given absolute rights to do and say whatever they wish simply because they are doctors. They want to be respected as a result of their 8 years of pharmaceutically-provided education, yet they do not want to accept responsibility for the fact that people are leaving them in droves for more effective, safer and gentler natural therapies which have been around for hundreds or thousands of years longer than drug-based medicine. People are not stupid – they know what words and what does not and they are tired of being killed and maimed in the name of pharmaceutical profits.

And as what I can only describe as an Alex Jones-worthy gravy stroke of genius:

Please read the comments below from the page of the Australian Doctor Weekly regarding why doctors should not sign conscientious objection forms and why parents should lose all of their rights. These are the people our politicians are listening to. These are the true terrorists in our society. Freedom of choice is NOT free. It must be fought for and it must be defended. If we are not prepared to do what is necessary to protect our children, then truly we HAVE lost our way as citizens of a democratic nation.

There’s not much one can say to that, I suppose. I’ll leave you with someone who does like to say things – @shellity – because we all hate the inconvenience of being killed. It is, as they say, inconvenient:

0 Responses to The Australian Vaccination Network declares that doctors are “terrorists”

Wait, they believe that antibody titers don’t equal immunity? Do they think that antibodies produced as a result of vaccination are less effective than ones produced by getting sneezed on? (Sorry, dangling preposition.) They continue to make me LOL.

It depends on the disease. Sometimes antibody levels don’t reflect immunity. And it depends which antibodies. For instance in measles haemagglutination inhibition antibody may disappear but the person is still immune because sufficient neutralising antibody exists.

This could all be cleared up by just changing the law to eliminate all non-medical exemptions from all public health measures. We don’t have (in civilized countries) religious or conscience exemptions allowing for shitting in the street, so why should there be exemptions for the even more dangerous practice of refusing vaccinations?